Oncology nurses out there I have a question......

PAERRN20 · Aug 6, 2009

I imagine you wouldn't start the job until after you have your baby. I am not an oncology nurse but I would be concerned about taking care of patients with radioactive implants. Also I would be wary of hanging chemo while pregnant or trying to conceive. I'm sure some oncology nurses will chime in and be able to give you more info.

NurseyBaby'05, BSN, RN · Aug 6, 2009

If you're 8 months, you might as well wait until you've had your baby and finished your maternity leave. Someone's not going to hire you only to not have you not be able to work for at least a month or two after you are hired.

As far as safety goes, I have a two year old and six month old and they're both fine. Don't take the implants while you're pregnant or nursing. Don't hang chemo. As for handling body fluids, use common sense. Gown and glove. If someone's grossly incontinent, change patients. Not for one of their walkie-talkies either. Not all the patients are receiving chemo or have implants. Making a switch shouldn't be to complicated. Many of them are admitted for complications after they have received their chemo outpatient. The chemo is usually out of their systems by then, but the side effects need treated.

For the most part I felt better off on the Onc floor. Because of having neutrapenic patients, we don't get the gross isolations. No shingles, chicken pox, flu, r/o TB, etc. Also, we usually only take isolation patients that are our own. That usually cuts way down. The worst we usually have are a few c-diff's b/c of all the abx these poor people wind-up taking and the occasional MRSA. Follow standard precautions and you'll be fine. The only thing I avoided like the plague was when one of our pt's had CMV in her gut and peritoneal cavity. I didn't clean-up her BM. Another nurse and I swapped Bedside Commode duties when I had her. She used to yell at me for even coming in her room. RIP, Lillian . . . .:redbeathe

GrumpyRN63, ADN, RN · Aug 6, 2009

I had three normal, healthy children while working Oncology. We no longer have the implants on our floor, but back then we did. The implants and the I131 pts were the ones we (pregos) didn't have contact with. Staff was actually very accomodating that we didn't even go down that end of the hall/unit. I hung chemo while pregnant, some did, some didn't. The ones that didn't were accomodated. I did have some isolations I wasn't that cool with- CMV, TB. Back then a lot of pt's came in house to get their chemo, now most get it in the clinic, so most of our pt's are either surgical or immunosuppressed , post op complications readmits etc. I wouldn't be worried about the rad or chemo JMHO

blondy2061h, MSN, RN · Aug 6, 2009

We don't do implants simply due to the nature of my floor. Our pregnant nurses don't take CMV + patients or patients getting chemo. We have many patients readmitted with GVHD or just waiting for count recovery that are safe for pregnant nurses.